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Luke Goedeke holds up
Baker Mayfield was sacked only once in 37 pass attempts by a good Lions pass rush. Right tackle Luke Goedeke did a great job in pass protection against Lions Pro Bowl defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
The former Michigan star, who entered the game with 4.5 sacks this season, was limited to only three tackles Sunday.
"I think us up front, pass protection-wise was pretty damn good," left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. "You know, (Goedeke) down there, you guys have to start giving him his flowers. He's balling. So I don't necessarily think it's us not measuring up. We did some stupid stuff in both those games (against the Eagles and Lions). We need to get those fixed. It sounds like, 'Oh, what if we did that?' That's the hard part. Hindsight is always 20-20, but I think if we fix some stuff, we're right there with them."
Bye week hangover?
Maybe it was the heady 3-1 start. Maybe it was the early bye week. Whatever the reason, the Bucs did not start or finish Sunday's game very fast. They couldn't convert third downs on offense; they allowed too many big plays on third down on defense.
"Getting back to work," coach Todd Bowles said. "I told them we looked sluggish. And when you have a hard-fought game in the first half, you make too many mistakes, one team is going to come out on top. They didn't make any mistakes. We did. We lost the game."
Key stat
The Bucs defense was ranked second in the NFL in team takeaways per game (2.3) going into Sunday. The loss to the Lions was the first time this season it did not force a turnover.
"Missed opportunities," linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka said. "Just a lot of missed opportunities on both sides of the ball."
The Tampa Bay Times, published 16 October 2023
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